Busy Night Ahead for Wallingford Council

A pair of issues that just don't seem to ever get resolved are on tap for the Wallingford Town Council when it meets on Tuesday.

Vacancies of the town's Housing Authority will be addressed during a special Council workshop schedule to begin at 5:45 p.m. At that meeting, councilors will interview a pair of candidates for the agency's board of commissioners: Tim Keough and Robert Wiedenmann. The agenda for the workshop meeting includes the possibility of the council naming a new commissioner.

But if recent history is any indication, the council may not take any action in selecting a new commissioner. As the Register reported earlier this month, the governing body had interviewed two other candidates for the Housing Authority board, but rejected both on them. When asked to explain their actions, councilors said there was no need to rush and replace former Chairman William Fischer.

The council's regular meeting starts at 6:30 p.m and during that session, there will be a discussion concerning a request for proposals/bids from prospective buyers for the town-owned American Legion building at 41 S. Main St. The council also will discuss setting July 12th as the date for a public hearing on selling the property.

But as is the case with the Housing Authority, the council has moved slowly in terms of dealing with the American Legion building.

Mayor William Dickinson Jr. wants to hold onto the property, even though it has fallen into disrepair (see a view of the ceiling in the building above). The mayor has said the town shouldn't sell the property because its location next to Town Hall gives officials potential expansion options.

Previous attempts to sell the property, most recently in 2010, have failed because of lack of support from the council. But the council voted in March to again put the property, which the town bought in 1995 for $190,000, on the market.

All in all, it should make for an interesting Tuesday night at Town Hall.